Spies in Disguise is a pleasant animated feature for the entire family, with humor suitable for both kids and adults alike, and really excels with not only some great animation, but the voice talents of Smith and Holland were ideal for their roles.
Spies in Disguise
(2019)
Genre(s): Animation, Adventure, Family, Science Fiction
Fox | PG – 102 min. – $45.99 | March 10, 2020
Date Published: 04/04/2020 | Author: The Movieman
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Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
Note: The screen captures were taken from the Blu-ray disc and do not represent the 4K Ultra HD transfer.
THE MOVIE — 3.75/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Super spy Lance Sterling (WILL SMITH) and scientist Walter Beckett (TOM HOLLAND) are almost exact opposites. Lance is smooth, suave and debonair. Walter is not. But what Walter lacks in social skills he makes up for in smarts and invention, creating the awesome gadgets Lance uses on his epic missions. But when events take an unexpected turn, Walter and Lance suddenly have to rely on each other in a whole new way. And if this odd couple can’t learn to work as a team, the whole world is in peril.
Quick Hit Review: Spies in Disguise is a fun, family-friendly, spy-fantasy-comedy with pitch-perfect voice casting for Will Smith and Tom Holland, both of whose natural live-action charms translate so well to animation form and the pair do share some fun friendly chemistry. The plot itself is serviceable though the selling point is hearing Smith voice a pigeon. However, the cynic in me couldn’t really buy into the moral of the story about treating one’s enemies not with violence but utilizing non-violent devices (such as glitter forming kittens, balloon weaponry, etc). It’s a nice message for the young ones of course, but not sure how well it translates to the real world. Again, I do have a cynical mind, so likely others, young and old, will appreciate the simplistic yet appropriate messaging.
That being said, Spies in Disguise still was a surprisingly well made animated flick, one of the better ones, especially compared to others without the Pixar labeling (this is, though, under the Disney brand now). Smith and Holland provide great voice work and under the direction of Troy Quane and Nick Bruno, both making their debuts following working as storyboard artists on Hotel Transylvania, 9 and The Peanuts Movie. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.0/5 |
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This comes with an embossed slip cover and inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. Infiltrating Blue Sky Studios (9:11) — Kid-friendly behind-the-scenes featurette with interviews by the creative team. The Top Secret Guide to Gadgets (3:57) — Breakdown on the various gadgets used in the film. Music Videos:
Making the Soundtrack “Then There Were Two” and “Freak of Nature” (1:24/1:30) – Behind-the-scenes on creating the song. Gallery:
Theatrical Trailer (1:43) |
4K VIDEO – 5.0/5, BD VIDEO — 5.0/5 |
| Fox releases Spies in Disguise onto 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray, presented with a 2.39 widescreen aspect ratio and shown in 2160p and 1080p high-definition transfers, correspondingly. Both of these do look fantastic though not too surprising as these computer generated animated films tend to in either of the formats. The difference between the two, best I could tell, was pretty minimal. The 4K did have a bit more detail and noticeable noise and the colors were a tad better, perhaps aided by the included HDR (no Dolby Vision for those with that technology on their TVs), but the Blu-ray disc still looked great in its own right. |
4K AUDIO — 4.75/5, BD VIDEO — 4.5/5 |
| As with other Fox titles, this one also has two different audio codecs, a Dolby Atmos track for the 4K UHD and DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 for the Blu-ray. I assume most people couldn’t discern a big difference and as with the picture, while the Atmos track is a tad better, the DTS-HD MA option isn’t at all bad. Both do provide clear dialogue from the central channel and the only difference is the Atmos track does give a more encompassing experience from more outlets (mostly overhead) but not by much. I don’t think you could go wrong with either of these. |
OVERALL – 3.75/5 |
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Spies in Disguise is a pleasant animated feature for the entire family, with humor suitable for both kids and adults alike, and really excels with not only some great animation, but the voice talents of Will Smith and Tom Holland were ideal for their roles, though a so-so box office ($160 million against a $100 million budget) likely means no follow-ups unless Disney takes it to streaming. |
The screen captures came from the Blu-ray copy and are here to add visuals to the review and do not represent the 4K video.